Handhelds

Viliv got us salivating when it introduced the S5 MID and S7 UMPC back at IDF, and now we’ve got a few tasty updates on both. Starting with the former, we’ve learned via an interview with parent company Yukyung that the S5 MID will come packing a 1.33GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 1.8-inch hard drive (1.3-inch when paired with a WiBro module in South Korea), a 4.8-inch 800 x 480 resolution touchscreen, integrated GPS / DMB and a primary battery good for up to six hours of use. The OS will be a home cooked system that’s fairly attractive, though the outfit has made clear that WinXP versions will be available in the future. Speaking of the future, the currently unpriced S5 is expected to ship in South Korea this coming January or February, while the S7 is still on track for release sometime after that.

[Via Slashgear]

So Garmin’s coming out swinging in response to that Digitimes piece this morning suggesting that Android-based devices are on the way — sort of. The company says that “the story contains a number of inaccuracies in both sales figures and product rollout schedules,” and while it does say it has “an Android-based phone under development,” it also reminds us that Nuvifone won’t be it; instead, Garmin’s first modern entry into the world of telephony will be based on a proprietary build of Linux, as was originally planned. We have to question the wisdom of this two-pronged approach since it almost obsoletes the Nuvifone before it’s even released, but then again, maybe they’re just pushing to get something out the door — we’ve been waiting for this puppy for a year now, after all. See the full statement after the break.

CAYMAN ISLANDS/December 22, 2008/Business Wire – Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, is disputing a Monday, December 22 report in the DigiTimes trade publication entitled, “Garmin expects to ship 18 million GPS PNDs in 2008.” The story contains a number of inaccuracies in both sales figures and product rollout schedules.

“Black Friday sales from our customers were what we expected and gross margins remain relatively strong,” said Kevin Rauckman, Garmin’s CFO and treasurer. “However, the December sales environment is weaker, which we attribute to our retail customers’ desire to exit the year with lower levels of inventory.”

As is customary, Garmin will update investors during its fourth quarter 2008 earnings call, scheduled for February 25, 2009.

It has been but a matter of hours since we first heard of the Cupcake branch of Android, but the tweaked-for-the-better operating system has apparently already made its way onto Nokia’s Internet Tablets. The latest port of NITdroid is chock full of those sweet, highly fattening Cupcake goodies, and honestly, this whole development makes us cautiously optimistic about where all this is headed. Anyone care to give their N810 somethin’ new to run on? Let us know how it works out.

We can’t unlock ours for a few days yet, so why don’t we sit back, relax, and watch the boys and girls at the Dev-Team shoehorn their iPhone 3G onto T-Mobile while we wait? Follow the break for all the nail-biting action!

T-Mobile and HTC are clearly both pretty committed to Android — and cheers to that, may we add — but the real question is: is the “G” series a franchise or a one-hit wonder? And if it’s a franchise, just how soon might we see a G2? Logic would suggest that T-Mobile would want to give the G1 a little breathing room before piling on cousins that risk cannibalizing market share, but Cell Phone Signal is claiming we’ll see the G2 next month, and what’s more, the spec sheet reads like a dream: 5-megapixel autofocus primary cam with VGA secondary cam for video calling, full touchscreen, and WiFi — in other words, something like the “Touch HD with Android” that everyone had been hoping for. Come on now, video calling? Seriously?

It gets juicier, though. Boy Genius Report has an unconfirmed follow-up rumor citing a tipster that Cell Phone Signal’s spec sheet is basically accurate, but that the launch date’s been pushed back to April. The tipster goes on to say that the device won’t be exclusive to T-Mobile and will be sold elsewhere around the world — though not under the G series branding — and it’ll lack a QWERTY keyboard but maintain the trackball we all know and love / hate from the G1. Oh, and get this: they claim there’s already a G3 in the works, too. Any way you slice it, there are bound to be plenty of Android devices launching around the globe in ‘09, but if this turns out to be even remotely accurate, is it really the right way for T-Mobile to be going about its business?

Read - Original sketchy G2 rumor
Read - Additional sketchy information

Now that the cat’s out of the bag it was no trouble tracking down HTC’s S740 this morning, and just for kicks we rammed the phone up against the Touch Pro, which we subsequently rammed against the Touch Diamond and an iPhone for a generally violent display of smartphone force. It is worth noting that while the S740’s keys are similar to the Touch Pro’s, they’re not quite as deep or clicky, which leads to a rather sub-par typing experience by HTC’s standards. That glossy mirror finish on the phone screens isn’t doing them any favors either — even when wiped smudge free it seems to impede viewing — and we must say the Touch Pro’s matte finish makes the Diamond and iPhone 3G look cheap in comparison. Oh, and when asked about the Dream, the HTC rep quickly replied “we don’t know anything.” It was worth a shot, right?

While Apple’s App Store was far from being the first of its kind, we’re now seeing a job posting over in the Redmond area that suggests that Microsoft is looking to produce something similar for its Windows Mobile platform. The news comes hot on the heels of Google’s own Android Market announcement, and if the Product Manager position writeup is to be believed, said platform will be christened Skymarket. Described as a “marketplace service for Windows Mobile,” Skymarket could seemingly be a critical part of WinMo 7. But don’t take our word for it, the proof is the pudding — or in the read link, in this instance.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Toshiba is offering up a nice respite from the inane quantity of LCDs and, um, more LCDs at IFA this year. The SD Multi Tool and the SD Photo Editor are two touchable handhelds, offering up some beefy features where similar devices lack, and also skipping over some of the more traditional MID OS features that might put these over the top — a confusing mix, but again, not an LCD, so we’re hooked. The SD Multi Tool is the real wild one, offering dual 3.5-inch touchable (finger or stylus) LCDs, rated at 960 x 480 each if the spec sheet is telling the truth — that could be a combined resolution. The device offers wireless connectivity of some sort, and can handle web browsing, email, videos, photo editing and pretty much anything else that isn’t an actual phone call — though it can’t be tough to squeeze some VoIP in there. Meanwhile, the SD Photo Editor really earns its “SD” moniker with dual SD card slots, while the Multi Tool just has one microSD slot. The Photo Editor runs a similar OS, but seems distilled down to mainly the photo browsing and editing functions, with a bit of PMP functionality thrown in we hope. A 5-inch WVGA screen with 16 million colors should be plenty of room to work your magic. No word on what OS is under the hood, but it seems to be mostly homegrown Toshiba fare. We know the Multi Tool does HDMI out, and we’d hope the Photo Editor does as well, since they’re both supposed to hit in 2009 for a similar price point: around $300 US. If the shots below aren’t enough for you, check out the coverage at Engadget Spanish.

Sony’s VAIO UX UMPC is definitely one of the sexier handheld PCs out there, but it’s never been accused of being a rocket — even the latest models only offer a lonely single-core 1.2GHz Core 2 Solo for your $2500, and since the chip is soldered onto the board, swapping it out for a Core 2 Duo isn’t exactly easy, requiring an infrared soldering station and plenty of experience swapping chips. Nevertheless, it can be done, and Anh Nguyen from the Micro PC Talk forums pulled it off, upgrading his unit to a 1.2GHz U7600 Core 2 Duo with no ill effects or excess heat — just some better benchmarks and hardcore modder bragging rights. Check out benchmarks after the break, and hit the read link for more.

[Thanks, Logan]